


A Superhero Story

by KethriHolmes, Locksley613



Category: Superhero - Fandom, superheroes - Fandom
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Comic, Gen, Marvel - Freeform, Superheroes, dc, hero - Freeform, super, superhero
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-14 17:32:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5752060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KethriHolmes/pseuds/KethriHolmes, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Locksley613/pseuds/Locksley613
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A group of young adults with superpowers team up to fight a villain from another world as well as other small villains.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Danger Zone

Azaria leaned against a wall, breathing heavily, a gun ready in each hand. Her best friend, Amari, slammed against the wall next to her, also carrying a gun. They peeked around either side of the wall, straining to see in the dim light.

"Coast is clear," Amari whispered. She slipped around the corner and was immediately hit in the chest. Red splattered everywhere and she dropped to the ground.

Azaria slid over to where Amari had been sitting and scanned the surrounding area. Up on a balcony was a sniper. Slowly, and taking extra care not to be seen, Azaria pointed her gun around the side, drawing on her training to picture in her head where the sniper had been. The shot went off and she heard a slight groan followed by a heavy thump. Light flickered on overhead and the warehouse around them faded out of existence. Azaria stood up and took off her helmet. All around her, figures started rising from the ground, including Amari, each bearing a distinctive red paint splatter.

"Rule number four - always look up," Azaria said with a laugh.

"I know, I know. It only takes one shot before you're dead," Amari answered, removing her own helmet. She looked around at the damage. "Not a bad run, though," she commented. "I outlasted everyone except for you and Adamar. Normally I'm one of the first few out."

Azaria and Amari dropped off their armor in a bin that was sitting off to the side that had 'Used' written in white lettering across the front. "I know. My brothers must have really been off their game."

Amari threw her hands in the air. "You couldn't just let me savor this for another moment, could you? Instead of 'my friend is finally improving,' you had to go with that."  
Azaria laughed. "You know it's true - seasoned assassins shouldn’t be beaten by someone with less training and no field experience. You're lucky if you get one kill in."

Amari stuck her tongue out, crossing her arms and turning away. But she couldn't deny what her friend had said. Even though she trained with the Firlanna family, and had done so all her life, her skill level still couldn't compare to a family that had been trained assassins for generations.

The girls grabbed water bottles from under a sign that said, "Rule #17 - Keep Yourself Hydrated" and then headed for the stairs up into the main house.

The training center they were leaving was part of an underground facility located fifty feet below the Firlanna mansion. The facility was eight levels deep, each level dedicated to a different area of training. Level One, physical training, looked like an ordinary gym, with elliptical machines and weights and a small side room the functioned as a med lab. Underneath that was Level Two, an obstacle course designed to test agility and endurance, with a track around the outside for speed training. Level Three was for weapons storage, weapons training, and hand-to-hand combat training. Level Four, where they were currently, was a holographic paintball field that was altered for each of the weekly battles involving the entire family and most weeks Amari, designed to test their skills by giving them living, thinking, unpredictable opponents to fight. Even Alerick, the eldest Firlanna, came back from his home in the city at least once a month to battle. Sometimes he even brought his wife and kids to visit. Level Five was a swimming pool. It was intended for training only, but was often used just to play around in. The tech lab, where all of the Firlanna's high-tech, state-of-the-art, and often Adamar-original computer equipment was kept, was located on Level Six. The "closet" on Level Seven housed the extra family weapons, just in case, as well as an extensive collection of every kind of clothing imaginable. Sometimes blending in was important. The eighth and final level was a secure bunker in case the house was ever attacked.

The design of the main house hadn't changed since it had been rebuilt in the Victorian Era. The original house had burned down and the new house probably wouldn't be rebuilt unless it burned down again. Tradition had to be kept alive, of course. The mansion was three stories tall, had nine bedrooms - each with their own bathroom - a kitchen, dining hall, office, ballroom, and other recreational rooms. Solar panels and a high-tech well, both installed by Adamar, kept the house off the grid. Separate from the house was a parking garage with extra room for motorcycles, and a greenhouse. And Amari’s treehouse, but no one was supposed to know about that, although everyone did anyways.  
Amari and Azaria took the stairs up into the main part of the house - Azaria's father, Augusto Firlanna, had refused to install an elevator when he had remodeled the lower levels, claiming that stairs were good for the soul.

They made their way into the kitchen on the first floor, still arguing about the paintball game. "But what about that move I pulled when Antain shot at me?" Amari argued. "I totally dodged that."

"Dodged?" Azaria scoffed. "You sneezed, giving away your position to everyone else and almost getting yourself killed. It was luck that you ducked down to sneeze at the right moment that the paintball passed over top of you."

"Okay, well, what about when I got Amato? Hit him from twenty yards away, right in the temple."

"I will admit that was a good shot, but if Amato hadn't been focusing on me, he would have spotted you before you could even aim," Azaria countered, opening the door into the pantry. Rule number ninety-five - always eat after training, she thought to herself. She wasn't very hungry, but it was one of her father's rules, and those had never led her wrong before. Before he died, her father had said them so often that she and her brothers decided to write them down and give them numbers. They got to 127 before he was gone.  
Azaria came back out of the pantry carrying two cans of ravioli. She stopped to grab a couple of forks from a drawer under the counter before walking over to where Amari was standing on the other side.

Amari snatched a can and fork away, sitting down with a huff. "Oh, come off it. I did good and you know it," she pouted.

"Don't pout, it's not attractive," Azaria answered, popping her can and tearing the top off.

Amari stuck her tongue out. "Would it kill you to give me a compliment?"

"Yes. Compliments show attachment. Rule number seven - don't get attached. Attachment gets you killed. Therefore, giving you a compliment could get me killed," Azaria explained coolly.

Amari rolled her eyes. "Wow. Harsh, dude. I love you, too." Azaria just ignored her and started in on her cold raviolis.

The argument probably could have continued on for a good hour if a pile of boys hadn't stumbled in right at that moment. "Hey, girls, what's for lunch?" Amato called out, walking over to them. "Ew, cold raviolis. How can you eat that stuff?"

"Very carefully," Amari answered, not looking up.

"Well, I'm going to get something halfway decent to eat." Amato made his way to the pantry and came out a moment later with a full bag of chips. "Me and Adamar are going up to his room to play Assassins Creed. Either of you lovely ladies like to join us?"

"Can't, Amato, sorry," Azaria answered. "I'm going out on a mission tonight. I need to go down and prepare."

"Aw, you're no fun," Amato said. He turned to Amari, making a puppy face. "Will you come play with us?"

Amari laughed. "Of course. It's Assassin's Creed. There's no way I'm turning that down."

"Oh yeah, sure, just abandon me. Thanks, Amari. You're a great friend."

"Good, then we're even," Amari said, standing up. "You insulted me and now I'm abandoning you. I think it's a fair trade." She left the kitchen with Adamar and Amato. Azaria shook her head and went the other direction, back outside and down into the cellar, where the stairs down to the bunker were located.

She went down to the tech lab on Level 6. She wasn't nearly as good with computers as Adamar, but since he was currently otherwise occupied, she could at least make do. All she really needed was to look at some of the surveillance cameras they were already tapped into. Sitting down there for an hour, she scanned thoroughly for obvious traps. But that was about the limit of her staying still. It was time to go inspect the site in person. 

She ran into Antain in the foyer. "Hey, Az. Where you off to?" 

"Need to do a little scouting. Where are you off to?" 

"I'm meeting some guys in town and we were going to do some cross-country running."

"Well, how about we carpool, then?" They were at the garage now. Azaria grabbed the keys to their white 2012 GTA Spano. They were a family obsessed with cars, both old and new. "I could drop you off, do my scouting, run some errands in town, and pick you back up when you're done."

"I'd take you up on that offer if I didn't love riding so much." He grabbed the keys to the blue and black 2012 Suzuki Boulevard C50T. "Thanks anyways." 

"I think you just don't want your friends to think that you need your baby sister to drive you around," Azaria chided. 

Antain laughed. "You got it, babe. Gotta keep my pride intact." 

Since she was riding alone, Azaria traded her car keys for motorcycle keys, getting on the black Honda 1300 VTX Retro. "Well, what does your pride say about a head-to-head race?" 

Antain grinned. "You're on." 

Azaria and Antain lined up at the end of the driveway, clear brown eyes fixed determinedly on the road in front of them. It was technically only a two-lane road, with one going each direction, but they weren't concerned. The only people who ever used that road were part of the family, and since the rest of the family was inside the mansion still, there was nothing to worry about. 

Antain counted off, holding up his fingers. One…two…three! They sped off; it was pretty much a straight shot all the way to town. The rules were simple - keep to your lane and try to win. First one to pass through the city limits sign was the winner. The only catch was a sharp dog-leg over. There was a sharp turn, about six hundred feet of road, and then another sharp turn. The trick was hitting those turns at just the right speed. If you went too slowly, you fell behind. If you went too fast, you ended up on the side of the road, upside-down and burning. 

Azaria took off, trying to get an early lead on her brother. She knew that he could take the corners faster than she could, so the further ahead she was, the less she'd have to make up for after the turns. 

When they hit the first turn, she was ahead. Although it wasn't as far ahead as she would have liked, at least she wasn't behind. She hit the corners as fast as possible, her leg missing the ground by a few inches. She glanced over at Antain beside her; his leg was about the same amount off the ground. They were both cutting it close. 

Antain came out of the second curve just a little bit ahead of her and she knew she had lost. She didn't give up, but it pretty much always turned out that way, no matter who was in the race - whoever came out of the second turn first was the winner.

It was a close finish, but Azaria had predicted correctly. Both of them slowed down to "safe for city" speeds and Azaria pulled up beside him. "Good, game, bro," she said, adding, "But you know there's going to be a rematch, right?" 

Antain smiled. "Anytime, babe." Then he laughed. "See you later, Az."

"See you." They went their separate ways; Antain turned onto a side street while Azaria continued into town. It was about ten minutes further into the suburbs of town, and another five, ten minutes from there to the warehouse she was surveying, which was in a…sketchier part of town. 

Azaria's mission this time was a simple retrieval. There wasn't even an assassination involved. This guy was making a drop off in a local warehouse. A couple minutes later, another person was supposed to come in and pick up the package. Azaria had calculated it and figured out the time between when the first guy walked out the door and the second guy walked in it. But even with the minimal time limit she wasn't too concerned. This warehouse was often picked for these kinds of drops specifically because it had no security. Neither party had any risk of being caught by the other. The only problem was exactly what Azaria was doing now. 

Of course, it could be a trap. Rule # 96 - Always think that everything is a trap. It was probably one of the most important rules. And it had kept her alive more than once. But she was really hoping this one wouldn't be a trap. It was always easier when things went smoothly. It seemed that, for this part of the mission at least, she didn't have to worry about traps. But she checked the large room over twice just to be sure and found nothing out of the ordinary. 

Before going home she stopped at a bakery to grab a few mini cakes for her, Amari, Adamar, and Amato. She was originally just going to get them for Amari and herself, but Amari was probably still with the other two, and if she just bought her a cake, they would gripe and fuss and complain and Azaria would never hear the end of it. It was worth more just to buy the extra cakes. 

"I'm back and I come bearing gifts!" She called, throwing open Adamar's door so that it slammed against the wall. 

"Ah!" Amari yelped and almost fell off the couch. "You are so lucky I wasn't playing just then. If I had been, I would be a lot angrier at you." 

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Azaria tossed a little white box to her friend, saying, "To you, my love." 

Amari laughed as she caught it. When the bakery had first opened, it was Valentine's Day. They had a huge ad in their window advertising their "Love Cakes," which were small white cakes with white frosting and fresh strawberries on top. Of course, when Amari and Azaria passed by it while walking around town, Amari made a snarky comment about how Azaria had to "prove" that she loved her by buying her one of those cakes. Azaria had known it was a joke, but she went in and bought the cake anyways. Now any time either of them passed the shop, it was a moral imperative to buy the other a cake. 

"Thanks. Love you, too, sis," Amato said, eyes still glued to the screen. 

"Don't worry, I got some for you boys, too." She tossed over two more white boxes. 

Adamar caught them both because Amato was still fighting. "Oo, cool, two for me." 

Amato immediately paused the game. "Mine!" He called, snatching one away.

Azaria laughed. "Well, I'll leave you two to fight over those cakes. One is triple chocolate and the other is a turtle cheesecake. Good luck." She saluted and turned to walk out the door. 

"Thanks, Az!" She heard the three of them chorus behind her. 

She went up to her room. The last step before night was for her to go into her room and pick out what weapons she wanted to take with her. She opened the clear plastic case over a red button and pushed it. The entire room transformed. All the panels on her wall flipped around individually, turning her room into a mini armory. There were long range weapons on one wall, medium to short range guns on another wall, non-gun weapons on another wall like knives and swords, and then other miscellaneous weapons like grenades on the last wall. 

While she looked at the weapons around her, deciding what she wanted to take, she changed into her stealth outfit. Much as she liked the neon green tank top and jean shorts that she was wearing, they weren't exactly appropriate for sneaking around. Also, her mission outfit had more places to hide weapons. Not like she needed them. She'd already had to put away five knives that she had hidden on her person just to change clothes. 

The outfit she wore for missions was a pair of black shorts, a black tank top, and black military-style combat boots. She also had a double-gun holster that went around her thighs so that she could put on gun on either side of her, and a belt for whatever else she needed, mostly extra ammo. 

Now that she had places to put the weapons, she put her long brown hair back in a ponytail and started walking around the room, picking them out. It wasn't an assassination, so she didn't need to bring too many long-range weapons, but she just felt empty without a sniper rifle, so she strapped an M40 to her back and moved on. In the smaller-guns section, she immediately reached for her dual Heckler and Koch USP Match pistols and put them in her thigh holsters. They were probably her favorite weapons and they had saved her life a lot in the past. Then she grabbed a little Walther P99, slipped it into a pouch at her waist, grabbed extra ammo for everything, snapped it to her belt, and moved on.  
She always had knives everywhere, on a job or off. She put five small throwing knives on the belt at her waist and a longer one in a sheath between her breasts. Next to the throwing knives at her waist was a Saxe knife. She slipped a Bowie nine and a half inch blade in her right boot, on the outside of her leg where she could reach it easily. Opposite of that, on the outside of her left leg, was a Chilean Corvo dagger. Feeling properly weaponed-up, she put on the finishing touches of her outfit, a pair of black fingerless gloves and a black mask across the bottom portion of her face, leaving only her eyes.


	2. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wild villain appears! Watch out for the strings...

"I'm off to my mission!" Azaria called up the stairs as she threw her cell phone into a basket by the door. It wasn’t an official rule, but they never took anything on a mission that could make noise accidentally and give them away.

"Okay! Five!" She heard Amari call back. Azaria laughed. Rule #5 - Don't get shot. 

"Not a problem!" She called back. This mission wasn't supposed to be difficult. Quick in-and-out. 

Azaria walked through the darkness towards the garage. She couldn't take a car all the way to her destination, but she could at least get mostly there. She decided to take the Honda 1300 VTX1300Retro. Since the black motorcycle was smaller than a car, it would be easier to park, and since all her cars were ridiculously expensive it would more likely go unnoticed in the sketchy part of town that she was going to have to park in. 

To get from the mansion to her parking spot a little ways away from the mission was supposed to be a twenty-five minute drive. That is, if you're driving the speed limit. Azaria was not. She made it in six minutes and forty-two seconds, breaking Antain's previous record of seven minutes and thirteen seconds. She'd have to tell him when she got home. It was one of the most important parts of the mission sometimes - timing yourself on the way there. The spot she was using this time was an ideal location, out of the way and in a very dark area of town, and was fairly close to a lot of their regular locations. 

Azaria started walking, making her way towards the warehouse. She had about fifty minutes to walk three blocks, so she wasn't in any great hurry, but she did intend to get there early. Even though she had already scouted the building, it wouldn't be a bad idea to scout it again, to make sure nothing had happened since earlier that day. Rule #85 - Never take chances. She certainly had plenty of time, and you could never be too careful. 

She slipped into the shadows around the warehouse, checking the perimeter for anything unusual. Then she did a quick perusal of the inside of the building before she went into hiding. 

"Hiding" was the empty house next door. It had been abandoned for years, and since the Firlannas had "claimed" it as their own, the landlord hadn't sold it to anyone yet. Azaria had offered to buy it once, but the man she had talked to said that he would rather not have any ties to her family, which was understandable. But she still sent them money every month that equaled what the rent would have been in the form of regular, anonymous checks and the landlord didn't sell it. It was a win-win situation. 

Azaria bunkered down with a sniper rifle and watched the warehouse for the last ten minutes, waiting. Waiting wasn’t her strong point and was definitely something she'd had to work on in her training. Patiently - or maybe not so patiently - waiting for the right moment.

Finally, a man walked up to the warehouse door, glanced around cautiously, and then stepped into the building. In his hand was a briefcase. Azaria's body tensed. This was it. She did a quick systems check on all her weapons on her way out the door. The man was only going to be in there for a moment and she needed to be right there when he came back out or she would miss her window of opportunity. 

Azaria hid in the shadows by the door. The man didn't even glance her way. Not that it would have mattered if he had - she was very good at hiding in plain sight. The man cautiously stepped out and she slipped in before the door closed behind him. (It would have been suspicious if the door had mysteriously opened and closed again.) 

The briefcase had been left exactly where it was supposed to be. Azaria checked over it briefly, but she didn't have enough time to be thorough. Knowing that she didn’t have very long, she grabbed the case and was about to walk away with it when, like the sound of swords unsheathing, several metal bars slid up from the ground around her. Azaria silently cursed herself. She'd been so busy checking the case itself that she had forgotten to look for trap wires. The trap had probably been set to go off when she picked up the suitcase. 

"I seem to have caught a little mouse in my trap!" She heard a high-pitched voice giggle behind her and turned around slowly, sighing. She knew that voice all too well. 

"Hello, China Doll." China Doll was the closest Azaria could say that she got to a nemesis. Their first meeting had been a couple years ago, when Azaria was hired to steal the same piece from a museum that China Doll was after. Azaria had gotten there first and, in the process of fighting over it, also got China Doll caught by the police. Ever since, it had been China's main goal in life to make Azaria's life difficult. 

China Doll giggled. She was sitting way up in the rafters, her porcelain mask smiling eerily down at Azaria. China Doll had always seemed...creepy, to Azaria. And her thoughts weren't unprecedented. China Doll's dark brown skin was covered with a broken porcelain mask, painted white with ruby red lips and one blue eye with eyelashes that were too long. Her black hair was pulled back into curly gothic pigtails that looked like they had been dipped in blood. Her head was topped with a black mini top hat that was lined with white lace and decorated with a red rose. She was wearing a black peasant top with a red corset and a short black skirt with red ruffles. One of her stockings was white and went halfway up her thighs, the top hidden by her skirt. The other was red and black striped and went up to her knee. They were both capped off at the feet with a pair of black Mary Janes with little bows on the front. At her wrists and neck were black lace bows.

"Hello, Shadow Stalker," she answered brightly with a little wave. She was calling Azaria by her name in the underworld. Guess she had gotten into whatever club she had wanted to get into down there. Not that it mattered much. She was too obsessed with her personal vendetta that Azaria was pretty confident that she didn't have any backup. But apparently "pretty sure" wasn't good enough today. 

"What do you want, China?" Azaria called up, irritated. She needed to get out of here. Her time was up. Any second now someone would come walking through that door and...should have come through already. She had calculated everything out perfectly. And by her calculations, someone should have been in to retrieve the case already. Her brow furrowed as she put the pieces together.

"I see you've finally caught on to my little plan!" China Doll exclaimed. "You see, I wanted to see you so bad, but I knew you wouldn't want to see me," she pouted, bottom lip stuck out playfully. "So I had to send someone else to arrange our little meeting. Otherwise I'd never get you to come to the little play date I had set up. And I so wanted to play with you. Here, have a doll." A tiny doll dropped from her hand and shattered on the ground at Azaria's feet, spewing some kind of gas all around her.

As Azaria stood in a cloud of green gas, she thanked the black mask over her face. It was keeping her at least semi-coherent. "Merde," she whispered angrily, looking for a way out. The bars around her were swimming. If only she could fit through them...that was it! Azaria focused all her attention on herself and she started shrinking, her body twisting and contorting until, on the floor of the cage, stood not a person, but a small yellow canary. The little bird hopped across the floor, stumbling a little as the gas more quickly affected the smaller body. The bird Azaria hopped to the edge of the cage. But when she tried to go through, she was zapped and thrown back. 

Azaria hit the ground and lost control of her form, turning back into a human. "See?" China Doll giggled in her high-pitched voice. "I planned for everything this time. I didn't want my playmate to run away." 

"Planned for everything?" A voice said from the darkness. "Then you're going to hate me!"

Azaria tried to look around, but now everything was in threes and fours and she couldn't even see past the bars of the cage for all the green smoke around her. All she could see were shadows moving around above her before she passed out. 

Out of the shadows, a well-placed arrow flew through the air, hitting the very center of the cage top and cracking it open like an egg. All the gas dispersed, leaving Azaria alone in the clear air. Natural defenses from years of being exposed to different gasses kicked in and started fighting the poison in her system. 

Meanwhile, high above in the rafters, a long distance fight was ensuing. A figure hiding mostly in shadow was shooting arrows, one right after another. China Doll kept trying to throw explosive dolls at the attacker, but the arrows were coming from all over the place. Either he could move really fast, or there was more than one attacker. 

In actuality, neither was true. There was only one attacker sitting casually in a corner, bouncing arrows off the beams to change their direction. "Having some trouble?" He called, projecting his voice behind her. Another doll flew and hit nothing but wall. 

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." She called, a hint of anger slipping into her otherwise childish voice. 

"I don't wanna," came the reply, mimicking her childish voice. China Doll screamed in frustration and started throwing razor-sharp puppet strings in every direction.  
The mysterious voice was fast, but not quite fast enough. Several of the strings hit him, knocking him from his perch. Azaria regained consciousness just in time to see a familiar figure fall from the rafters and hit the ground. 

"Cael-kamahs!" Azaria cried, getting up and stumbling over to him. She had met her rescuer on numerous occasions before. Their business led them to hang around with similar...social circles. They often worked together on missions if they had a common goal, or at least, not opposing goals. Today, China Doll must have been a part of it...China Doll! Looking around, Azaria couldn't see her. She must have realized that her plan had failed and she either needed to leave or get turned over to the police if Cael-kamahs caught her, or killed if Azaria caught her.

Azaria turned her attention back to Cael-kamahs - she would worry about China Doll later. "Cael-kamahs?" There was no response. The fall must have knocked him out. He was also bleeding from both arms, a leg, his torso, the left side of his face and the right side of his head. He needed to see Amari and fast. 

Azaria tried to pick him up, but with the combination of his weight and the fact that she was still recovering from the poison, she could only carry him a little way. She managed to get him to the door before she gave up and dropped him on the ground. "I'm going to need back up on this one," she mumbled, pulling out her cell phone and dialing her friend.  
"Joe's Mortuary. You stab 'em, we slab 'em." A cheerful voice said on the other end. 

"Hey, Amari, it's me." 

"Oh. You." 

"Yes, me. How could you not know? Your cell has caller ID."

"Kinda in the middle of something here. Can you get to the point?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I need you to come to the warehouse. And now." 

"But it's my turn! I'm about to go in for the assassination." 

"Put the game on hold, svloch, and get your butt over here. This is a matter of life or death! And bring a car." 

"Alright, alright. Don't get your knickers in a twist. I'll take the DeLorean and be there in a few minutes." There was a click and then silence. Azaria rolled her eyes at her dork of a friend and turned her attention back to Cael-kamahs. He was still unresponsive, but there wasn't much she could do until help arrived. She fashioned some makeshift tourniquets from what she had to put around his arms and leg. 

Amari arrived less than ten minutes later. "Well, you look like you had some fun," she observed, looking around the room. "I’m guessing this unconcious guy here is why you called me."

"Do you see anyone else who needs help?" Azaria retorted.

"Depends, are we talking just physical help, or are we adding mental help to the list?"

Azaria punched her friend lightly on the shoulder. "Just look him over, please."

"Oh, a please and everything. Must be important."

"Truie."

"That's more like it." Amari bent down to look at the man lying on the floor. As she examined his injuries, she asked, "So, is he your boyfriend or what?"

Azaria started. "Um, no. Why?"

"I'm just trying to figure out why we're saving him."

"He saved me first."

"I guess it's a fair trade then." Amari bent over him and, one by one, put a hand over his injuries. One by one they disappeared. The process took about ten minutes. "That's all I can do for now. I'll look him over again later, but if I keep going, I'll strain myself." The man sat up suddenly and started coughing. "Guess it doesn't matter anyways. Good morning, sunshine."

"How do you feel?" Azaria asked.

"Like I was torn apart by string and fell from a roof," he answered, looking around and trying to get his bearings. He saw Amari and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am the physical form of death. My official title is Lord Death, Ruler of the Underworld and Conqueror of Life, but you can just call me 'my lord,'" Amari answered with a flourishing bow.

"The dummbatz over here is Amari," Azaria corrected. "I called her after you passed out. You passed out, by the way. And China Doll got away."

"Oh, is that all?" Cael-kamahs tried to get up, but he fell back almost immediately.

"We have to get him back to the house. It's not safe here. Who knows what China Doll is doing? She retreated, but there's a pretty good chance she'll come back."

"Wait," Amari said, holding her hands up. "China Doll was here? And who is this guy? Something you wanna share with the class here?"

Azaria had already started trying to get Cael-kamahs off the floor. "His name is Cael-kamahs. I'll fill you in on the rest later. For now, let's just get home."

"Fine," Amari huffed. Together she and Amari got Cael-kamahs to the car, a dark silver-gray DeLorean DMC-12. Amari went and got the Honda and led the way home.


	3. Mr. Roboto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who doesn't love a good giant robot battle?

Kethri sat crouched on the windowsill of her room at the Hansen Orphanage for Girls, her bare toes curling around the edge. She was wearing a very Arabian-looking, sand-colored outfit with balloon pants that came back back in tight around her ankles. The same fabric made a scarf that wrapped around her waist with gold coins hanging off of it. Her top was more like a one-piece swimsuit with a large cut-out circle around her navel and three tassels hanging from the top. Blue gossamer fabric wrapped around her lower back, tucking into the sides of the hole. Similar sand-colored fabric formed her sleeves, which were like her pants, coming in at her wrists. The lower half of her face was also covered with a see-through piece of fabric. She looked like a belly-dancer. "Thanks again for this, Ksenia," she whispered through the open window behind her.

"You know, someday I won't be able to cover for you and you're just going to get caught," her friend cautioned.

"Well, until then, I have you to make sure that I don't."

Ksenia snorted. "I could decide to rat you out to Ms. Unger, or simply not cover for you."

Kethri laughed quietly. "You'd never rat me out. You're too nice and you hate her just as much as I do. And besides, if you were going to tell, you would have done it ages ago."  
Ksenia sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Now go already, before you get caught!" Kethri laughed and blew a kiss behind her as she jumped out of the third story window, her short blonde hair streaming behind her. She created a pad of air to land on as she fell.

It was getting close to the second year of her nightly escapades. When she arrived on Earth three years ago, she had pretty quickly become fascinated with nerd-culture, especially superheroes. She came to realize that, hey, she could do that, she had powers. So she took up the job of patrolling the city after hours, looking for crime to thwart.  
She flew above the city and saw nothing. No robberies. No shoot outs. Heck, she would even settle for a back-alley mugging at this point. She was about to go home and turn in for the night when she saw the fulfillment of her wishes. Right in the middle of the town square was a gigantic robot.

"Ha ha, jackpot!" She said to herself, changing direction and heading towards adventure. 

"Hey you!" She yelled as she flew into his face, immediately regretting it as rockets, bullets, and lasers were suddenly aimed in her direction. She wove back and forth to avoid them, but it was faster than she had expected. At least it had stopped firing at the people below.

Kethri dodged a particularly nasty looking grenade and found herself pinned to the building behind her by a giant robotic arm. Stone cracked and crumbled underneath her. "Uh oh..." She said, trying to squirm free. Without her arms, her powers were useless. The robot opened its mouth and another explosive rocket clicked up and out. "Okay, if it weren't about to send me to my certain doom, the fact that you have a rocket for a tongue would be totally awesome," she couldn't resist saying. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

. . . . .

"Why did you stop?" Azaria shouted out the window at Amari, who was looking at the sky in awe. Azaria followed her gaze and saw a huge robot. "Oh." She took in the scene and saw that someone was up there trying to fight the robot off. It looked like she was holding her own but could possibly use some help - the robot had her pinned to a wall. "Should we go help her?"

"I'll save her because I'm the hero!" Amari parked her bike and jumped off it. She ran through the crowd that had gathered, pulling a ball of rock from the ground as she ran, launching it at the robot's face where a rocket was about to blow the blonde's head clear off her shoulders. "Bulls-eye!"

The robot hand let go of Kethri and she went plummeting towards the ground. She regained her senses just in time to land on her feet.

"You don't mind if we crash the party, do you?" Amari asked. "Looks like fun." Her face emanated sheer excitement. She moved to start fighting and saw a group of terrified-looking people standing a little too close. "Hey, you idiots over there!" She yelled. They turned and looked at her, staring blankly like they were trying to figure out why she was yelling at them. "Can't you tell there's a fight going on? Move!" The last word was the loudest for emphasis. The ground rumbled, causing the group to scatter. Just in time, too. Amari had been seriously considering picking up the ground they were standing on and throwing it out of the way. If they hadn't moved when they did, she probably would have.

Kethri laughed and turned to the robot. "Now, where were we?" She flew up with her arms out, spinning and kicking up dust but making a totally awesome tornado that whipped her short hair around her head. "Looking for me?" He fired an eye-laser at her, but she was ready for it this time and she dodged it easily. Looking down, she called, "Coming up?"

"Don't mind if I do." Amari was more than ready to get into the fight. But before she could even take one step, Azaria flashed past her and used her Assassin's Creed-like parkour skills to quickly scale the building and leap off of it and onto the robot. "Show off!" Amari yelled up to her friend.

"Slow poke!" Azaria yelled back.

Amari stuck out her tongue but got to work on another boulder. Earth could be hard to get moving - it liked to stay put. According to Azaria, it fit Amari perfectly because it was "as stubborn as she was." But she did muscle the concrete into a boulder fairly quickly and sent it flying towards the robot's face. “Heads up!”

Seeing it coming, Kethri sent a blast of wind to help it along. It smashed into the robot's face, denting it and sending the entire apparatus crashing to the ground. Azaria just had time to hop off and land on a nearby building holding a bunch of important-looking cords in one hand.

Kethri and Azaria dropped to the ground near Amari. "Hey, thanks for that," Kethri said. "Although death by giant killer robot would be an epic way to go, I think it's a little too soon for it."

"Not a problem," Azaria replied.

Something had been bugging Amari, so she said, "Okay, I have to ask. What's with the getup?"

Kethri looked down at her outfit and shrugged. "It's my costume, I guess. If you’re going to wear a costume, you might as well make it flashy.”

“But all those jingly coins!” Amari protested. “People can hear you coming from a mile away.” Raised by assassins, she would be caught dead before she made so much noise.

“Well. I’m a superhero, right? Superheroes wear costumes.”

“Superhero?” Amari scoffed. “You realize nobody actually does that, right?” So she said. Inside, she was already making plans to start doing the same thing herself.   
"So, when I tell my brothers about this epic fight, what should I call you?" Azaria asked. Mainly she wanted to do a background check. This girl intrigued her.

Kethri smiled. "Whirlwind," she said simply before taking off dramatically. The fact that she was going towards an orphanage made it a little less awesome, but they had no way of knowing that, so it was still cool.

"Well, that's not as good as I wished it would have been," Azaria sighed. "It might be a little difficult to find information on a 'Whirlwind.'"

"I don't know," Amari countered. "Adamar can find just about anyone or anything. I bet he can find out more about this chick."

"What the -" A voice said from behind them. "What happened here?" They turned to see that Cael-kamahs had woken back up and was now walking towards them.

"We just took out a robot. It was totally epic and you completely missed it," Amari answered. Cael just shrugged. "But anyways, I have some questions for you, mister."

"Well, you can ask them, but I'll have you know that I reserve the right to refuse to answer."

"And I reserve the right to punch you in the face," Amari countered calmly, only half-kidding.

Cael sighed. "Just ask the questions."

"Fine. What were you doing at eleven o'clock at night on Monday the third?" She asked, glaring at him.

"Is this an investigation now?" Cael asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Just answer the question."

"Well, for one thing, I was saving your friend's butt."

"I'm grateful for that, but why were you there in the first place?'

Cael hesitated, but then said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. And if I do, maybe you can help me hunt down China Doll."

"I realize that China Doll is a little, well, evil," Azaria commented, "But why search for her. Why not wait until she pops up again? She always does."

"I was getting to that," Cael replied and then continued with his story. "I had been tracking a new crime ring that had popped up. China Doll seemed to be the center of it, but when I started tailing her, I found out that she had been working for someone else. I don't know who yet, but I'm getting there. I was hoping that she was going to lead me to the ringleader, but she led me to Azaria instead."

Amari nodded, satisfied for now. "And second question, how exactly do you know Azaria? She's never mentioned you before."

"Never mentioned me before? I'm hurt," Cael joked. "But we met for the first time a while back when our paths crossed like they did today, and seem to keep doing every so often."

Amari looked at him skeptically. She looked at Azaria for confirmation, who nodded. "Alright, well, I guess I have to leave you alone...for now. But I'm warning you, don't get on my bad side." Something about this guy just irritated her. She couldn't figure it out.

"I'll keep that in mind. And with that, I take my leave." He saluted them before turning and walking away. Azaria thought about stopping him to find out where he was going, but the assassin in her held her back. She wouldn't want a practical stranger knowing something like that about her, even one that she had met as many times as she had him. She could always have Adamar find out if she needed him to.

. . . . .

When Kethri got back to the orphanage, she noticed something odd - the window wasn't open. Usually Ksenia left it at least ajar so that she could get back in. 

"Hey, Ksenia!" She whispered, rapping on the window. "Let me in." A face appeared in the window, but not the one she wanted to see. "Ms. Unger!" She gasped.

The window opened and Ms. Unger's hand shot out, grabbing Kethri's wrist and dragging her inside. She had always been surprisingly fast for her age, which had to be at least fifty, although no one knew for sure, but this was just insane.

"So, I see that you can fly," Ms. Unger commented. Kethri immediately dropped to the ground, but the damage had already been done. "Oh, there's no use denying it. I already know. Your little friend, Ksenia, told me. I can be very persuasive if I need to be." She motioned to a dark corner where Ksenia was curled up against the wall. Kethri hadn't noticed her until now. Her face and arms were swollen, the black and blue bruises streaked with red. 

"What did you do to her?" Kethri shouted, trying to pull away. Ms. Unger tightened her already iron grip. "Let me go!" 

"I don't think so," Ms. Unger replied, dragging Kethri out the door and down the stairs. "I’m going to make a lot of money off of you." She threw Kethri into the cellar, a room usually reserved for severe punishments - the door locked from the outside. 

"I would rather rot down here in the cellar," Kethri spat through the small, barred window at the top of the door. 

"I'm sure you would," the hag agreed. "But who knows what I would do to Ksenia if I don't get my way. I've been told I have quite a temper." She smiled and turned away, leaving Kethri to collapse on the floor, defeated. Seconds turned to minutes, then to hours while Kethri sat, curled against the back wall, her mind whirling. She didn't even want to think of how the Ungermier expected to make money off of her, but she really didn't want to think about what Unger would do to Ksenia, who was small and weak and sweet and would never be able to defend herself. 

Ms. Unger showed up the next morning with two men from a circus. "Now, honey, show the nice men what you can do," Ms. Unger instructed in a sickly sweet voice. Kethri sighed. The men looked anything but nice. In fact, they looked a lot like thugs, but she started floating around the room anyways. She even threw in a couple of air tricks she had made up back in her temple days on Daimne, her home planet. The Ungermier nodded approvingly. It made Kethri's stomach turn, but she couldn't escape now. Until Unger had her money, Ksenia was in danger. 

The men tied her hands together and dragged her kicking and screaming out of the orphanage. Just because she was going didn't mean that she was going to go quietly. But they eventually got her out the door and off into the morning.

. . . . .

Cael took the rest of the night to walk back to the circus that he worked for during the day. He was a kind of jack-of-all-trades there, although his specialties were the ranged tricks, like throwing knives, and the daredevil stunts.

When Cael finally walked up to the ring of tents that was his home, he saw that the "cage" truck was backed up to the main tent. The only time it was there was when something related to the circus's "side business" was happening. He walked up, curious.

"Oh, good, there you are," Giovanni, one of the trapeze artists called out to him. He motioned towards the back of the truck. "This is the new act. She's all yours."

Cael walked up and looked at the "act," who was a young girl, dressed all in white, blue, and gold, with short blonde hair. She didn't look like she was scared, like he would expect out of someone who had just been kidnapped. He respected that. But then, maybe that had something to do with why she had been chosen to come here in the first place. He walked into the giant crate that made up the back of the truck and grabbed the ropes that bound her hands together. "Don't worry," Cael said, pulling her up and leading her out. "I'll show you around. I doubt you'll love it here" - he did understand that she had just been kidnapped and sold to the circus - "But at least you'll be comfortable."


	4. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kethri becomes a circus show.

"Do I really have to wear all this makeup?" Kethri complained. She stood in front of a full-body mirror sporting an outfit that made her look like a clown. Her top had red and blue vertical stripes with wide yellow sleeves decorated with purple spots. The pants were the same flowing design as the sleeve but with reverse colors - yellow spots on purple fabric. Her face was completely caked with makeup. They had made her face entirely white with ruby red lips and pink cheeks. It reminded her of a geisha. Except the eyes. The weird lady that looked like a gypsy had painted her eyelids to look very realistic but without irises. The entire iris/pupil part was the same shade of black so that, when she closed her eyes, it would seem like she was entranced. To Kethri it was awesome and eerie, if extremely excessive. She may have been kidnapped against her will, but she could still appreciate a work of art when she saw it.

"Yes, you have to wear it," Cael answered, not looking up. He was sitting on a chair nearby, cleaning a set of throwing knives while Kethri inspected herself in the mirror.

"I feel like my face is going to crack apart if I show any kind of emotion."

Cael finally looked up and burst out laughing. "Are you sure you won't break the mirror instead?" He choked. "You look like my old friend, Bobo the Clown."

"Ha, ha, very funny," she said dryly.

"I know I am. But seriously," he said, "We should probably get going."

Kethri looked thoroughly confused. "What? Now? But the show doesn't start for another hour."

"And do you know what you're doing at said show?" Cael asked, eyebrow raised.

Kethri looked at her feet. "No. Figured I'd wing it."

"Knowing Darktalon, the ringmaster, 'winging it' will land you on fire at the bottom of a pit with a hungry tiger in it."

Kethri froze for a moment, and then said, "Yeah...let's go..." She and fire had a...complicated past. Any situation involving her and fire only ended in tears.

She followed Cael to the largest tent, set up in the middle. "Oh, good, you're here," Darktalon said, walking up to them. He was a short, plump fellow in a black tailcoat and pants with a matching handlebar mustache and top hat. "I need to try the new equipment out on Whirlwind."

Kethri opened her mouth to protest being talked about like an object, but she was distracted by something orange and bright.

"I see your eyes have been drawn to our newest attraction, the Ring of Fire," the ringmaster chortled.

Of course her eyes were drawn to the Ring of Fire. It was a shiny circle of flickering light suspended about twenty feet off the ground. From where they were standing in the center-ish of the stage, it was in about the twelve o'clock position. Next to it, in the one o’clock spot, was a platform hanging about fifteen feet up. Since there was no ladder or anything, it was obvious she was expected to fly up there. Beside that was a small kiddy pool followed by two rings, the first of which was about ten feet in the air and the second was resting on the ground. Two blocks followed that, suspended about five feet apart vertically. Then there was a blank space with walls on either side - not sure what that was for - followed by a couple more rings, this time at the same height but staggered left to right. In the nine o'clock spot were two logs on ropes, pulled apart from each other. Next was a row of three glinting semi-circles at the bottom of long poles. Last before the fiery ring of terror was a long, cork-screwing tube. The outside was painted pitch black. It started off wide at the bottom, but with every loop it got smaller until, at the top, there was a hole that was barely large enough for Kethri to fit through. She didn't even want to think about what that was for. It looked terrifying.

"Once again, Darktalon, you've outdone yourself," Cael said, looking over the course.

"It's definitely one of my finer works," Darktalon replied, looking over his handiwork with pride. "Actually, scratch that first thing I told you about trying her out. I'm going to have her do it as a first-time run."

Kethri swallowed hard. "A what?"

"It means that you don't practice the course. The show is the first time you go through it."

Kethri's eyes got wide. She didn't like the way this was going. "How will I know what to do?" She choked.

"Oh, there will be a red string for you to follow," Darktalon answered. To Kethri, he seemed a little too excited. "Just do what it does and you'll be fine."

"Will she have a net?" Cael asked.

Darktalon laughed out loud - a hearty, robust laugh. "My dear boy, she can fly! When would she ever have need of a net?" He shook his head and walked away, smiling and muttering about silly ideas.

Kethri immediately turned to Cael. "This isn't a good idea, is it." It wasn't really a question, but it had to be said.

"Probably." He turned around and started walking away.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Kethri ran after him.

"To get ready. I have to perform too, you know."

Kethri stopped in her tracks. "You have talent?"

Cael turned around, glaring. "Ouch. I do to have talent. Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know, I just figured you were, you know, a behind the scenes person or something." She saw the look on Cael's face and sighed. "I'm going to get hit, aren't I?"

"Let's just put it this way," Cael said. "Don't move." Before Kethri could react, he pulled a knife, bent like a boomerang, seemingly out of thin air and threw it at her. It swished around her head, so close that it moved her hair a little, and then landed right back in his hand before disappearing again.

Kethri was stunned for a moment, frozen in place, fighting to regain her senses. Her breath caught in her chest and it took her a little bit to coax it back out again. Once she did, she leapt forwards, arms swinging wildly at Cael, trying to hit anything in her reach. "You idiot! Another inch and you would have hit me!" She shouted.

Cael cringed away from her attempt at violence, laughing. "Two inches," he corrected her.

Kethri paused for a moment, mid-swing. "What?"

"The knife would have hit you if it had been two inches closer."

"That...doesn't...make...any...difference!" She yelled, punching him with renewed fervor. It didn't help that she was getting frustrated that he was blocking almost every punch she threw.

Cael let her go on for a little while but then finally he grabbed hold of both her wrists while they were crossed and spun her around, pinning both arms behind her back like she was handcuffed. "Alright, let's go." He nudged her forward.

Kethri squirmed, trying to get away but she wasn't nearly strong enough, and her arms were pinned again. This was becoming a real problem. She was going to have to find a way around that, and looking back, she probably should have used her power before she got into this situation."Go where?" She asked.

"Where you won't get into trouble." They were back at the main tent. “I can't have you getting in my way. Hey, Darktalon!" He called. "Where do you want her?"

Darktalon was in conversation, but he waved a hand towards the back, by the platform. Cael took her that direction and they found a cage with the door open. "Ah, so this is what he wanted that time lock for."

"What?" Kethri was so confused.

Cael pushed her into the cage and shut the door. "Time lock. It will open at a certain time. I'm sure this one is set to go off when your show starts.

"So what? I just have to wait here?"

"Yep," he said. "Here's my advice - start thinking of some flashy things you can do for the show. The more exciting your show is to watch, the less likely you are to get into trouble with Darktalon." He turned and left her alone.

. . . . .

Kethri was bored. She was nervous and bored. It probably wasn't a very good combination. But from where she was, she couldn't see anything that was going on, so she couldn't even watch everyone else.

She had just switched from lying in the middle of her cage to sitting against the bars when something silver flashed in her vision and then something cold and metal was snapped around her neck. Kethri stood up and whipped around to see that Cael was standing there. "What the heck is this?" She asked angrily.

"It's so that you don't escape. Darktalon asked me to whip it up for him. If you try to go past that," - he pointed to the wall separating the stage and the stands - "You'll be electrocuted. And the shock will go up every time you try."

"Sounds like fun. When do I start?" She asked, her voice jagged with sarcasm.

"Now," he answered, waving. The cage jerked up, knocking her over, and she was lifted up to the platform. So she wasn't flying, then.

Standing up high, the course looked even more intimidating than it had from the ground. Especially the spiraling corkscrew of doom. But the door clicked open and she had to go. She could have just stood there, but she suspected, that even though the collar she was wearing was meant to keep her on course, it was highly likely that Cael or Darktalon or someone also had a remote detonator hidden somewhere.

"Now, folks, focus your attention on the back of the ring where stands our newest attraction, the one, the only Whirlwind, who will now complete, before your very eyes, a death defying run of the Ring of Death!" Darktalon announced and the crowd cheered.

Kethri stepped out to the edge of the platform and closed her eyes, showing off her fancy makeup. They wanted drama? She'd give them drama. She was the drama queen, after all. Holding her arms out straight to the sides, Kethri leaned forward and just let herself drop. At this point she had to open her eyes or she would plummet straight through the floor. She dove towards the pool, pulling up just in time to let her bare toes dip gently into the water. There was a gasp from the crowd. Okay, so far this was actually kind of fun. But hey, what could she say? She liked attention.

The next two "obstacles" were just as easy. She swooped back up the first one and then dove back down to the second. The red string was there, like promised. It was strung through the loops and then between the two blocks. She was about to follow it there when slam! The top block came crashing down onto the one below it. Kethri lurched back - she hadn't been expecting that. It took her a second to get the timing down. She contemplated leaving or stopping or finding some other way around, but the fear of getting shocked drew her forward. She heard the blocks snap just behind her and her heartbeat jumped.

In front of her were the walls that she was still unsure about. But after the blocks, she didn't know if she wanted to understand what the walls did. Her first thought was that she was going to be stuffed between them, but when she flew into the deathtrap, she saw an arrow whiz past her nose. If anything can speed a person up, it's the prospect of being skewered. She was on the other side before she fully comprehended what was going on. She took a moment to look back and saw two walls that had looked normal a moment ago but looked like porcupines now.

She turned back forward and breathed an audible sigh of relief. In front of her were two straightforward rings. She flew through them with no tricks, wishing briefly that the rest of the course could be that easy. But she knew immediately that it was not to be, for next up were the logs. And now that she was up higher, she could predict what was going to happen next. Taking a deep breath, she flew forward as fast as she could. The logs slammed together just inches behind her. By this point her heart was racing so fast that she was sure the audience could see it trying to break out of her chest. She started to move forward and heard the clicking of a machine. In front of her, the semi-circles from earlier turned into sharp semi-circle pendulums of death. And the only way forward was through them. She ducked and dodged and wove between the three. Once she wasn't quite fast enough.

Kethri faced the final two obstacles. Her shoulder was bleeding slightly from the last one, the cloth around the wound soaking up the blue blood, but she easily ignored it. Thank you, adrenaline. She swooped lazily down, following her red guide, trying to buy time to recover a little.

When she got to the bottom, she looked up at her next obstacle and froze, dropping to stand on the ground. Looking up, it seemed much more intimidating than it had looking down on it from above. She walked slowly under the bell, trying to stall. The inside was so dark that she couldn't see anything. Standing under it, she felt like it was trying to suck her up and swallow her. She gulped and felt a slight tingle at her neck, her sign to get a move on. She flew up in circles. Every time it curved, she hit something, usually her head; she couldn't tell when they were coming. It was especially bad as it started to shrink – she was getting thoroughly bruised. She wasn't sure she would continue to fit through but she did, somehow. Her chest constricted until she couldn't breathe. The tube was closing around her with no end in sight, no light to show her the way until she burst out of the top, gasping for air.

It took her a moment to find the string again. It was going back down the other side of the cyclone. Battered and bruised, she followed it down. It swooped low and then shot straight back up. Her gaze followed it up and there it was, parallel to the ground. The Ring of Fire. The fire was shooting towards the center. There was just enough room between the flames for her to fit.

Kethri started to hyperventilate a little. Her heart rate was still up from the last obstacle. She closed her eyes, trying to calm down, not knowing what would happen if she didn't do it, and not wanting to think about that. Even with that thought, she couldn’t bring herself to fly up. She was frozen, drowning in images of fire and screaming in her ears, flashes of a battle playing in her memory.

Fire raged on either side of her. She had tried to flee into the oasis but all that had accomplished was giving the fire more green things to shrivel and burn and turn to ash. She tripped and the fire came together in front of her, cutting off her escape...

She was snapped out of it by a sharp buzzing around her neck. The shock jolted her up and she jumped in surprise, right through the burning ring. Some of the flames caught her sleeve and she burst into flame like a phoenix. For a moment she hovered there, still coming to terms with fire around her. For a moment, she could actually appreciate the beauty of the flickering light but then the flames started creeping up her sleeves and the spell was broken, sending her plummeting, screaming, to the ground. She started trying to hit the flames out on the one side but just ended up catching the other side on fire. Small sections all over the outfit were now on fire. She was so distracted by the flames burning her skin that she forgot that the ground was rapidly approaching. She landed on her arm and screamed as it snapped, her elbow now bending in the opposite direction that it was supposed to. The pain was too much and she blacked out. Thinking it was part of the act - nobody would really be hurt, it was just a show - the crowd cheered.

Cael ran over to her, grabbing a thick blanket as he went. "Can I get some help here?"

"Oh, she'll be fine," Darktalon assured him. "That was brilliant."

"Brilliant!? She was knocked unconscious!"

Darktalon just brushed him off. "Oh, don't worry about it. Just put her in the back and let her sleep it off."

Cael sighed. There was no arguing with Darktalon. He took off her collar so he could take her out of the ring and picked her up, draping her over his arms - she was surprisingly and ridiculously light. As in, there was no way anybody could be that light. It was like picking up a feather.

He wasn't just going to go to the back. Darktalon might not care, but Whirlwind was seriously injured, and she needed medical attention immediately. And he knew just where to get it. He took her around to where the two cars were that belonged to the circus. He broke into one - an old-fashioned sedan - and put her in the back seat. Then he got into the front, hotwired the car, and then drove it off into the night.


	5. An Unexpected Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Late at night, Azaria and the Firlannas get a couple of unexpected visitors.

Amari and Azaria got back to the house. Azaria held up the cords that she had taken from the robot. "We need to get these to Adamar tomorrow," she said quietly. There was really no need to be quiet, but in the dark, silent house, any would have sounded awkward.

"Why wait?" Amari whispered, running up the stairs to the second floor.

"Amari, wait! Not now!" Azaria called, sprinting after her.

Amari slowed to a stop right in front of Adamar's door and took out her lock picks. The lock clicked open and she went quietly in. She didn't want to wake him prematurely. Azaria stood off to the side while Amari went right up to him, leaning over until their faces were a couple inches apart.

"Hey, hey Adamar. Wake up!" Amari called. Adamar flew out of bed, knocking Amari against the wall. She hit it and slid to the floor. "Okay, I deserved that."

But Adamar wasn't done. Still half-asleep, he went through the motions of an attack. He picked Amari up by the collar and threw her out into the hallway. "What time is it?" He mumbled.

Azaria glanced at a clock by the bed. "It is...three forty-five."

"What?" Adamar yelled, following Amari into the hall. "Why would you wake me up at freaking four o'clock in the morning?"

"Huh?" Amari asked, dazed. Her head was spinning from hitting the wall. Twice.

Adamar growled slightly, pulling a throwing knife out of...somewhere...and advancing towards Amari.

Uh oh, she thought, rolling backwards to try and get away. She hopped out of the roll onto her feet and started stumbling backwards down the hall. Adamar ran after her, catching up quickly. He met her right before the door to Antain's room, picking her up again, this time by the wrist. 

Amari tried to punch him with her free hand, but his arm was much longer than hers, so with him holding her out at arm's length, she was missing by a few inches. Didn't stop her from trying, though.

Adamar pulled her back and threw her through the door. Pieces of door flew everywhere as Amari went crashing through, right onto the bed, which housed the still-sleeping Antain. Instinctively, he rolled off the bed, taking Amari with him. They ended up with Amari on the floor and Antain on top of her, holding a knife to her throat. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her face. Amari was frozen on the floor, her face bright red. Antain wasn't helping.

"Well, this is hot," he said after a pause, looking deeply in her eyes.

Amari opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to get words out but only making incoherent noises. Inside, she was thinking, Brain...jamming. Antain....getting closer...let him?...no, no! "Get off!" She said out loud, trying to push him off, but a sharp pain shot up her arm and she fell back on the floor, whimpering and cradling her left wrist.

"Are you okay?" Antain asked quickly, a look of concern on his face.

"No, your brother just threw me through the door!" Amari yelled. Then, quieter, she finished, "And I'm pretty sure wrists aren't supposed to look like this." She held up her cradled wrist which was bruised and swollen and she thought that she might be able to see some of the bone sticking out one side.

Antain jumped up and looked angrily, first at the door and then at his brother. "What'd ya do that for?"

Adamar crossed his arms. "Her fault. She woke me up."

"She woke me up too!" Antain countered, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, and you almost slit her throat!" The two brothers glared at each other. Sitting on the floor, Amari swore that she could see daggers flying from their eyes towards each other and colliding in mid-air. Azaria just stood in the hall, looking through the broken door. She put a hand over her eyes and shook her head.

"I don't know you. I don't know you. You're just random strangers that happen to live in my house. I don't know any of you..." she said softly.

Amari tried to get up but found that something was also wrong with her left leg, although she couldn't tell yet whether it was just a sprain or if the leg was actually broken. She looked up at the brothers above her. "Um, guys? A little help here... I need to get down to my mom so she can fix me."

Antain looked down at Amari, who was still struggling to stand despite her injured leg. When he processed what was going on, he jumped to her side with a flourish, saying, "I shall help you, fair maiden!"

Amari face-palmed, trying to use her hand to hide that her blush had deepened to a nice rose red. "You're such a dork."

"I know," he smiled as he swept her up into his arms, carrying her out of the room. Instead of bothering to open the door, he just knocked over what was left of it. Darryl would fix it later.

Amari and Antain managed to get all the way to the top of the stairs without a problem, but then Amari saw something on the floor. "Is…is that one of my ducks?" It was well known in the house that Amari had an extensive and growing collection of rubber duck and if you touched it, you died.

"Yeah, about that," Antain said slowly. "I kinda stole your collection and hid it throughout the house..."

"You what?" Amari shouted.

"It'll be fun, like a scavenger hunt."

"I'm so going to kill you!" She yelled, thrashing around. She kicked Antain in the head with her good foot and he dropped her, slightly stunned, sending her tumbling down the stairs to land dazed at the bottom just as a thoroughly confused Amato opened the door to the outside on another man carrying an unconscious girl.

. . . . .

Cael walked up to the door of the Firlanna mansion and knocked. A guy answered the door and behind him was a sea of chaos. The girl Azaria had called earlier was lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, yelling something in French at the guy standing at the top of the stairs.

"Who are you?" The guy holding the door asked.

"I'm looking for Azaria."

The girl on the floor rolled over and scowled. "Azaria!" She yelled up the stairs. "Tall, dark, and creepy is here to see you."

Azaria appeared at the top of the stairs. "You? What are you doing here?" She asked, coming down towards him. "It's a little early for a social call, isn't it?"

"Hello to you, too." Cael stepped through uninvited, bringing Kethri through the door with him.

Azaria's eyes snapped to the girl in his arms. "Why do you have Whirlwind with you? And what's wrong with her?"

"She was sold a couple days ago to the circus I work...worked for. There was a little...accident during her performance. Apparently she's more flammable than Darktalon anticipated. Are you finished?" He asked abruptly, staring down at the floor.

Amari was giggling uncontrollably. "I'm sorry. I just can't take you seriously now that I know you work for a circus."

"Worked," Cael corrected her. "Now that I've left with Whirlwind, who was supposed to be his star act, I'm pretty sure they won't just accept me back in. Which is kind of inconvenient, I might add. Darktalon was my connection to the underworld. It will be harder to figure out who I need to investigate now."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Amari said sarcastically. "Please, if I can do anything to help."

Cael nodded at Whirlwind, who was still unconscious in his arms. "Fix it."

"Why?"

"Do you not see what condition she's in?"

"Yes, I do, but that wasn't the question. What I meant was why do you care?

"I may be a thief, but I'm not heartless."

"Coulda fooled me," Amari muttered.

"I take offense to that," Cael replied, dramatically offended.

"Good, I'll remember that so I can say it again later. And that 'it' you're referring to is a girl."

Cael sighed. "Just do it."

"Wait," Azaria said, her eyes narrowed. "How did you get here?"

"I...drove?"

"No, I mean, how did you find us? This house is hidden and, as far as the government is concerned, it doesn't even exist."

"Oh. I put a tracker on you years ago," he answered simply.

"You what!" Azaria yelled.

"Yeah. I was curious, that first time I met you, so I put a tracker on you. It's been dead for years, but I'm surprised you didn't find it."

Azaria growled and flicked a throwing knife at him from the clip around her left arm. Cael dodged it and it embedded into the wall behind him. "Oh, so that's how it's going to be. Fine, then." He held out Whirlwind and dropped her into Amato's arms, who was now even more confused, and then pulled out two knives of his own. They had circles on the end that he put his middle fingers into so that he could swing them around menacingly.

An all-out fight ensued. The walls were starting to look like porcupines. At one point Cael, just to show off, caught one of Azaria's knives and threw it back at her.

Underneath all this, Amari had crawled out from the middle of the floor over to where Amato had sat on the ground, holding Whirlwind in his lap. Antain followed her over, ducking under the fight. By the time he got there, she was already looking over Whirlwind, trying to find the extent of her injuries. There were some minor cuts and bruises, and there was a large bump on her head, but most of the damage seemed to be from burns.

Amari moved to sit over Whirlwind and winced as pain shot up her arm. "You need to get to your mom," Antain said, trying to get her to move out of the line of fire. But she refused to budge.

"No. Whirlwind needs more help than I do," she said, brushing him off and continuing to work. She was concentrating on the burns but they were going to need a lot of work.  
"Yes, I realize that, but if you get hit by a stray knife, you're not going to be any good to anybody."

Amari sighed. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous." She threw up a wall of earth between Azaria and Cael, breaking several floorboards in the process. A couple of knives hit the wall, but both reacted quickly enough to not throw any more. "Quit it, you two." Azaria glared at Amari. "I think Darryl has enough to deal with already."

Cael looked a little taken aback. He reached forward hesitantly and touched the wall. "What is this?" He asked.

"It's a wall," Amari said flatly.

Cael just shrugged, recovering his cool. "Yeah, just a wall that came bursting out of the ground. Sure, no problem. Happens all the time."

"I'll call Darryl." Adamar walked over to an old-fashioned looking phone sitting on a table against the wall and started dialing a number.

"Who's Darryl?" Cael asked.

"The repair man," Amari answered simply, pulling the wall back down into the ground but still leaving the floor in shambles.

"Won't he be angry?"

"Angry about what? Fixing the house? But that's his job. Why would it make him angry?"

"Um, hello! It's three o'clock in the morning!"

"Oh that. No that won't be a problem."

"He's used to it," Antain jumped in. "We call him all the time. The house needs to be as prepared as we are," he finished, quoting Rule #104.

Cael just shook his head. "I still don't think he probably appreciates that."

Azaria shrugged. "He's paid well."

"Um, guys?" Amato said, still on the floor with Whirlwind in his lap.

"Oh, right, we should probably get them to Aunt Sasha," Antain said.

"No, it's okay, I can take care of her," Amari replied, brushing him off.

"No." Antain pulled her off the floor and swung her back up into his arms. Amari was too surprised at the sudden movement to avoid it, and she didn't care to be dropped again, so she didn't struggle. "C'mon, Amato. Take this other chick down to the med lab with me. Adamar and Azaria can wake up Aunt Sasha."

Amato stood up and almost fell over. He hadn't been expecting her to weigh so little. I was almost like carrying a feather. What is this girl made of? He thought.

Antain and Amato walked down to Level 1 where a med lab had been tucked away into the corner. In a house full of assassins, it was a good idea, and with Amari there to get into trouble, it was a requirement.

The med lab was a small room with two beds and cabinets full of any kind of medicine or medical anything that you could think of, and some you couldn't. It was as stocked as a combination between a hospital and a pharmacy. If you had it, Sasha could fix it. Sasha was Amari's mother. She was a great maid, a great nurse, and the reason for Amari's sarcastic humor.

"Alright, what did you do this time, Amari?" She asked as she walked in.

"Hi, Mama. I didn't mean to," Amari said, looking down at her feet. "This is compliments of me by way of Adamar."

"What did you do?"

"I kinda...woke Adamar up."

"And?"

"And so he attacked me."

Sasha shook her head. "And who is this?" She asked, looking over at the other bed.

"That's Whirlwind. I don't know exactly what happened, but Azaria's...friend Cael brought her over so I could fix her, but Antain won't let me."

"That's because you need to be fixed first," Antain said, glaring at her.

"No, no I'm fine. She's in a lot worse shape than I am."

Sasha smiled knowingly. "Well, let me see what's going on with both of you, and then we'll see what we can do."

"Thank you, Mama."

"I could kiss it and make it better," Antain joked. Amari turned away, trying to ignore him but her ears turned slowly bright red.

Sasha bandaged up Amari's wrist, which was definitely broken, and her ankle, which was fortunately just sprained. Amari stood up and hobbled over to the other bed. It took her about an hour to get the worst of it. Whirlwind still wasn't awake by the time Amari was done, but at least she looked better. Her skin wasn't burnt anymore and Amari was pretty sure that she'd taken care of the head injury.

Amari sat back, exhausted. "I think that's all I can do tonight."

Sasha brushed Amari's hair back and kissed her forehead. "Alright, sweetie. Go to bed. Let Antain help you. And don't argue," she added when she saw Amari's mouth open in protest. "I don't need you tripping and injuring something else. Whirlwind can stay here for the night until we know better what kind of condition she's in."

Amari refused to let Antain carry her again, so he let her use his arm for support. She reached her bed and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

. . . . .

Amari woke up and wandered into the kitchen half asleep. Adamar, Azaria, Amato, and Kethri were already there.

"So what did you want me for last night, anyways?" Adamar asked.

Azaria put the cords on the table in front of him. "This is what we wanted to show you. Early yesterday we fought a giant robot with Whirlwind."

"Hey, call me Kethri," Kethri interjected. "Being called Whirlwind all the time is just too weird."

"Okay, yesterday we fought a giant robot with Kethri. I pulled these out of it. Thought you could have some fun analyzing them and trying to figure out where they came from.  
Adamar sighed. "Okay, then, why didn't you bring me the cords yesterday? You've been gone for well over a day. You can't have been fighting that whole time."

"Well..." Amari said slowly. "We kind of got distracted." Adamar face-palmed. "What? We wanted to bring you the entire robot. Thought that it would be more fun for you. And also, how cool would it be to have a giant robot in our backyard? Unfortunately, the government got there before we could figure it out."

"And then Amari tried anyways, which is what took us so long to get home." Azaria added.

Adamar shook his head. "Alright, let's see what you've got." He picked up the cords and headed down to his lab on Level 6. "I don't know what you expect me to find with just this." He sat down at his desk and got to work picking them apart. Even though the room was meant for everybody to use, Adamar had a desk that was just his and no one was allowed to touch. Since he was the resident computer genius, everyone decided not to argue with him.

"Hang on, I think I found something," he said a few minutes later. Out from under the casing of one of the cords, he pulled out a small computer chip and stuck it into a handheld computer that he carried around in his pocket and a video popped up. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Amari, you're going to want to see this."

"Why?" She asked, coming over to stand behind him. "Oh please, not this again."

"Not what again?" Kethri asked, trying to look, but even sitting Adamar was almost as tall as she was.

Adamar pushed a couple of buttons on his computer and a giant screen on the wall to his right clicked on and started playing a video message.

"Hi, Amari!" The girl on the screen said. She was wearing a ridiculous orange cap and equally ludicrous purple hoodie. "It's your best friend, the Purple Platypus again. Did you like my present? I made it especially for you. I know you're busy and you still need to train so I thought I'd help you out."

"I don't believe this," Amari said, falling back into a chair. "I thought I got rid of her after the last time! Why does she keep showing up in my life?"

"Who is the Purple Platypus?" Kethri asked.

"Amari's personal stalker," Azaria said. "She's obsessed with being Amari's friend."

"It's creepy!" Amari said.

Adamar took the chip back out, put it in a bag, labeled it, and threw it into a box. "Whatever it is, she's crazy. But we knew this."

Amari sighed. "I'm going back upstairs." She walked up the stairs with everyone trailing after her back up to the kitchen where they found Cael and Antain sitting at the island, talking.

"Uh oh," she said, pausing at the top of the stairs.

"What?" Azaria asked.

"Something dangerous is happening." Amari pointed at the boys. "We never should have introduced them." The group on the stairs snuck out the door while the two at the island talked obliviously.


End file.
